ACC NOTES: A scare for N.C. State's Lewis

GREENSBORO – N.C. State got a scare late in Thursday’s opening round win against Virginia Tech when backup point guard Tyler Lewis collided hard with the Hokies’ Jarell Eddie while driving to the basket.

Both players went down in a heap. While the 6-foot-7, 218-pound Eddie stayed down and had to receive medical attention, Lewis – who stands 5-11 and is 157 pounds soaking wet – got up and limped off on his own. He came out of the game and didn’t return.

Although he had an ice pack on his right knee in the locker room after the game, Lewis said his injury isn’t serious.

“It hurts a little bit, but not too bad. I’ll be able to play (today),” Lewis said of State’s quarterfinal matchup with Virginia. “I’ll be fine. I just collided with him and I ended up hitting him in the head with my knee. I’m pretty sure he got the worst of it.”

Lewis had four points and a rebound in six minutes of action against Virginia Tech on Thursday, but his contribution could grow larger as the tournament wears on and the fifth-seeded Wolfpack continues with its goal of trying to win four games in four days.

ONE RECORD ENOUGH FOR HANLAN

Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan, the ACC’s Rookie of the Year, scored 41 points to key an improbable rally and lead his team to an 84-64 first-round victory against Georgia Tech on Thursday. In doing so, he broke an ACC tournament freshman record set two years ago when North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes hit for 40 in an overtime semifinal win against Clemson.

Hanlan missed his first two 3-pointers during an early blitz in which Tech opened up a 15-0 lead, then proceeded to make his next eight. He finished the game by making his final 12 field goal attempts while going 14 of 18 from the floor before leaving with 2:13 remaining just four points shy of the overall tournament record.

North Carolina’s Lennie Rosenbluth scored 45 against Clemson way back in 1957.

“I had no idea,” BC coach Steve Donahue said when told how close his freshman star was to the record. “We were just locked in. I had no idea if one guy was making them or what.”

If Donahue didn’t realize how hot Hanlan was, the other players on the court sure did.

“He was putting on a show,” point guard Joe Rahon said. “There’s no doubt about it. When you’re penetrating, you’re looking for where his defender is, because if you can get him a clean look, more than likely it’s going to go in.”

Page 2 of 3 - Because of the play of Rahon, who finished with 15 points and seven assists, Hanlan said his prolific scoring effort was as easy as it looked.

“My last 12 shots weren’t really tough shots,” he said. “I was just trying to move around the wing, because they were guarding me pretty well when I had touches. I was trying to spot up, get my feet under me and just hit shots.”

A DOZEN DIMES FOR BROWN

N.C. State point guard Lorenzo Brown had 12 assists in Thursday’s win against Wake Forest, the most ever in an ACC tournament game by a Wolfpack player. The previous record was nine, shared by four players.

The 12 assists were also the fifth-most among everyone in a tournament game. Wake Forest’s Ish Smith set the mark of 15 against Georgia Tech in double overtime in 2007. UNC’s Kendall Marshall matched him in last year’s quarterfinals against Maryland.

In addition to his unselfish playmaking, Brown also did a good job defending Hokies’ star Erick Green. The ACC Player of the Year, who is bidding to become the first league player to lead the nation in scoring since 1957, was held to 15 points – 10 below his season average.

“Lorenzo is the kind of player that if he felt he needed to score or our team needs that, he can do that more,” Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried said. “But today his focus was defensively, and I thought he had a heck of a game. He was great defensively and distributed the ball well. Twelve assists … pretty good afternoon.”

BUZZ OVER BZDELK’S FUTURE

Early Thursday, Wake Forest and ACC fans were greeted by an advertisement across the bottom of the sports page of the Greensboro News & Record promoting the ouster of Deacons' coach Jeff Bzdelik.

The advertisement promoted the website www.FireBz.com and read "#BuzzOut; In 25 ACC road game, Jeff Bzdelik is 1-24 (.040). 20 of those losses have come by 10 or more points."

When Wake Forest's starting lineup was announced before their Thursday game against Maryland, every starter received a loud ovation from the Wake Forest crowd, but there was silence and a few boos after Bzdelik was announced as the Deacons' coach.

Emotions got even hotter once the game was over and Wake’s season-ending 75-62 loss to the Terrapins became official. A disgruntled fan came down to the edge of the stands and began yelling at Bzdelik. His tirade was met with angry comments from the coach’s supporters, including his wife, sitting in the first few rows behind the bench.

“We heard about it, but we don’t pay attention to that stuff,” junior forward Travis McKie said. “We just pay attention to the guys in this locker room. We can’t worry about media good or bad. That’s the way it goes in college basketball. It’s a tight-knit group and we’ll be fine.”

Page 3 of 3 - HALFTIME HONOR FOR ROGERS

The ACC honored former Wake Forest star Rodney Rogers at halftime on Thursday's Wake Forest-Maryland game on the 20th anniversary season of his being named the league's player of the year in 1993.

Rogers, a former Durham Hillside two-sports star, was wheeled out in his wheelchair by his wife Faye and his Wake Forest coach Dave Odom among others; Rogers is paralyzed from the shoulders down after he was injured in a Nov. 28, 2008 dirt bike accident in Vance County (near Raleigh).

A 13-year NBA veteran who played for the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers, Rogers created a foundation to help assist those in financial need from accidents that cause paralysis.